Lacey Donohue

The Sheriff’s Department in Los Angeles confirmed Saturday that human remains were found in a water-treatment facility near the 110 Freeway in Carson. The remains—a foot, a calf, and a lower torso—were found in a bin that separates debris from sewage water.

Coroner’s Lieutenant Joe Bale confirmed the body parts were found on Saturday although he made clear that the discovery was not necessarily indication of a death. According to Bale, “You can live without a foot and a leg or an arm. We can’t assume somebody’s dead just because they are missing a foot and a calf.”

However, the fact that a second set of remains was found Monday afternoon at a different water-treatment facility has no doubt altered Bale’s admirable and wishful thinking. ABC7 reported that a woman’s torso was found floating in the settling tank of a plant near City of Industry. The torso was found by workers responding to a blockage report.

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Investigators now believe the two cases are related and that the remains belong to one woman whose body entered into the facilities via a single sewage line. How her body got into the system is still a mystery but they suspect the sewage machinery is responsible for the dismemberment. The investigators also make clear that her left arm is still missing, but that no one should worry about the water supply because sewage plants don’t affect drinking water.

The situation is being treated as a homicide and anyone with information about a missing female in the Los Angeles area is being urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.